Nodus Tollens
by daydreamer883
Summary: Arashi Azuma, a temporarily mute girl, found no interest in almost all activities, worrying her loved ones that she'd dive deeper into depression. She kept making attempts at getting better and getting into the Photography Club was one way to do it. TakashiXOC MoriOC {Full summary inside because there were too many characters}
1. Prologue

_Nodus Tollens: the realisation that the plot of your life doesn't make sense to you anymore._

 _Arashi Azuma, a temporarily mute girl, found no interest in almost all activities, worrying her loved ones that she'd dive deeper into depression. She kept making attempts at getting better and getting into the Photography Club was one way to do it._

 _Another way was asking for one student to be her GPS from a so-called Host Club one or three times. Fake smiles gradually turned genuine. With some drama and romantic moments, she finally felt like a normal teenager._

 _But with her parents divorced and her father drunk half of the time, it would be hard for Arashi to find any kind of normality. Especially with life-changing revelations finally coming into sight._

Arashi sat on her bed, staring at the laptop's screen wistfully. Her pale face was blemished with a purple bruise on her cheek below her right eye covered by her thick side bang. It was a reward from her father after serving him dinner when he asked her to, claiming that if mere servants could do it, she could do it too. He was drunk and usually when he wasn't, he wouldn't lay a hand on her but insulted her anyway.

She sighed and continued to stare at her brother's pictures with his beautiful wife and one-year old son. The idyllic background of the pale blue hues of the sea water, glimmering under the rays of the sun made her stomach squirm with want. Whoever had taken that picture must have been an expert to be able to capture such a scene.

She wished she could tell him what their father was doing to her. Alas, her father would know in some way. Last time she tried reporting him, the man beat her in ways that would make any other person in a coma for a whole week. But having been used to it, it took her four hours plus a temporarily broken voice box for her to open her eyes. By then, her father was probably at another meeting. She didn't care anyway. He was the reason she was mute, he was the reason for her anti-social behavior and he was the reason for her forcefully plastered smiles.

She abruptly shut the laptop, not wanting herself to get even more depressed. Not when Inazuma was going to come in after half an hour with a book in hand and ready to read her to sleep. He would surely notice the vibe around her and question her until she was surrounded. She hated that about him but she loved it too. It made her feel like he was her friend. Her lifeline.

She sighed again and leant back into her pillows, eyes straying to the ceiling above and their engravings of intricate yet calming designs. Her lips twitched upwards bitterly. She wanted to become an architect but knowing her father, he'd force her to take on the business with no time to even reach that thought again.

A knock snapped her out of her reverie and made her shoot up, her stance transforming to a proper one in fear it would be her father however the sight of Inazuma and his warm smile made her return it and sit back down, legs diving into the comforters.

He chuckled fondly and sat beside her, already opening the book to where they left off last time. _The Land Of Stories: An Author's Odyssey_ ; just looking at its cover was so satisfying.

"Ara-chan, are you aware that what I'm doing is not allowed?" he mused, looking down at the young lass.

She nodded.

"Do you know why I do this?"

She shook her head but her eyes expressed avid curiosity. In return, Inazuma smiled mysteriously and closed his eyes peacefully.

"You'll know soon, little bird."

Tease.


	2. Chapter 1

Arashi roamed the wide and many halls, opening every library door coming into her sight and getting accustomed to the shock of giggles and murmurs every time the double doors swung open. At that point, she started opening any kind of doors in hope of finding a temporary sanctuary for her bookworm...-ness? She didn't know anymore.

Girls who lingered in the hallways waved and blushed when she politely returned the gesture as if her acknowledgement made them fantasise about their future together. Arashi held back a shiver. She was straight and that was one of the things she was absolutely sure of. However, appearing as an admittedly cute boy made it hard to suppress the urge to play with their feelings.

She didn't know when it started but she wore the male uniform because it seemed slightly more comfortable than those yellow dresses. They took up some much space when the girls walked in them and she just didn't like _those_ kinds of dresses. For once, her father didn't care about what she did as though he had given up on her but she knew better.

Because of her short hair, her slightly masculine name and the male uniform covering her figure, not that she had any to begin with, people started referring to her using _he_ and _him_ and _his_. Did she bother to correct them? No, it was much more fun that way.

A series of squeals and giggles erupted behind the double mahogany doors of a music room she was just about to pass by. Curiosity fed on her mind and her hands itched to press on the handle. The elated shrieks and satisfied gasps had nothing to do with that; she heard those everywhere she went. But she heard china clanging, somebody talking about tea and cakes and a voice of a kid in there. Arashi, being easily-intrigued, pushed one of the doors open.

Right then, Arashi wished she never did.

Eye-stabbing rays pierced her one eye and somehow the other eye that was concealed by her hair and the overwhelming smell of roses hurt her sensitive nose. They were everywhere in vases on every table present in the room. Perfume merged with the scent and the strong fragrance of coffee.

She let out a small sneeze and registered the black-haired male in front of her.

"Hello," the boy spoke. "How may I help you?"

She let out another sneeze before wiping the unintentional tears that sprung in her eyes but the tears were persistent and kept on coming. She took in a shaky breath and looked through her blurry vision as the boy gestured to talk outside, following his long strides.

Sighing in relief, she sniffled and cleared her throat. She pointed to her throat and swiped her hand in the air.

"Ah, I see," the boy sighed out as if it was the most troublesome thing in the world to try and communicate with a mute person. "Sign language then?"

 _Looking for a quiet place._

"Hm, the only place I can think of is the garden since every student seems to think the library is a lounge room," he replied. He knew what went on in the school pretty well. Perhaps, he experienced the same long useless journey she took around in school.

She bowed in gratitude and was about to head to the garden where she once spotted multiple benches with tables peppering the grassy area. Ah, there were also satisfyingly beautiful flowers with scents that didn't outwardly attack her into a series of sneezes.

"Hold on please, what's your name?"

She did some signals for the meaning of her name and mentally hoped he understood.

"Storm? East? Ah, Arashi Azuma. Well, it was nice to meet you, Arashi-san. I'm Kyoya Ootori."

Whatever light that came through the windows reflected on his spectacles, giving off a mysterious yet dangerous aura. The small cold smile did not help.

Arashi gulped nervously and bowed as calmly as she could in goodbye.

The garden's beauty would calm her down.

And it did. Only three students were in the garden part of the courtyard and they were probably the only ones who were reading a book amongst all the students in the school premises. A few more seconds and she'd be one of them.

She chose to sit in the table under the tree with the shade shielding her from the sun's rays. Taking out a book, she quirked a smile at the bookmark of the many bookmarks her butler gave her for her birthday the year before. Each bookmark was shaped as an important element from every story they had read before. This bookmark was the shape of a red wellington boot like the pair that Millie Bird in Lost & Found wore.

Of course the book she was reading wasn't the same one she read with Inazuma before she slept. She couldn't when they read it together every night and she saw how Inazuma's eyes would light up at the sight of any book.

Halfway through a chapter, a panting brunette slowed to a stop from the heavy running he was doing. Or was it a she? Arashi tilted her head. Very feminine features. Girl, she decided despite the male uniform. Maybe she didn't like dresses just like her.

"Excuse me," the brunette panted, cheeks red with exhaustion and a droplet of sweat dripping down her temple. "Did you see a student with a black cloak and a black wig running here and screaming about the sunlight?"

Arashi shook her head a little and pitied the girl who looked like she couldn't even lift a finger anymore. She quickly got a bottle of water from her bag and handed it to her.

"A-ah thank you," she said, falling into the seat beside her and gulping down half of the water in the bottle.

"God, that was refreshing," the short brunette sighed and capped the water bottle again, pushing it to Arashi but she gestured for her to keep it. The silver-haired girl noticed how her chocolate brown eyes kept straying to her book as though wishing she could be doing the same.

"Thank you so much." She stood up and bowed.

Arashi bowed her head back and watched amusedly as the girl continued jogging, occasionally calling out for a name or asking another student with the same description she gave her.

Arashi sighed heavily. If every day was going to be this interesting, she didn't mind continuing in this school. She wouldn't refuse any possible light in her dull life.


	3. Chapter 2

Her legs moved as fast as they could and her arms moved with her legs in sync as though this would somehow speed up the pace she's been going at. She didn't want to run in a uniform such as this one.

Although the male uniforms looked comfortable, it was completely the opposite of that; quite disheartening. The arms of the blazer were restricting and the white shirt stuck to her skin more than it should on a boy, making it hard to hide her breasts. She was absolutely thankful and not at all jealous of those voluptuous women who found comfort with exposing half of their perfect body. But she knew how the dresses felt like and was glad she chose the other uniform.

 _She was late_.

For the first club meeting too. God, she was almost afraid that those boys would eat her alive. They seemed nice the first time she talked, well _gestured_ , to them and she was enthusiastic to find out that almost all rich people and students were forced to learn more than one language with the bonus of sign language.

 _Where? Where? Where?_

She pulled on her sleeves nervously, for the first time a little bit intimidated by the school's size and countless rooms. She could remember the place of that music room she visited the previous day and before she knew it, her feet were carrying her to that room while she silently prayed the dark-haired boy didn't murder her with a mere gaze for bothering him again.

She took a deep painful and most likely the last breath before boldly opening one of the double doors. Because opening both doors was too dramatic for her and it incited huge red warning signals in her mind.

She quickly trotted to the lone male standing there, seeming to entertain some females while simultaneously keeping an eye on the other Hosts. His posture seemed relaxed but his smile was stiff and maybe she imagined it but he almost scowled when one of the girls moved closer to the point she was almost touching him.

If it weren't for the talkative girl she sat close to at lunch, she would've never understood what a Host Club could do to people; good or bad.

The moment she reached where he stood, the girls diverted their eyes from the tall male to the shorter one and blushed at the extra good looks gracing them with their presence. She completely ignored them and focused as Kyoya still hadn't noticed her. She tugged on his sleeve shyly and stood resolute as he turned to face her.

Yeah, she wanted to snort, resolute.

She did multiple gestures. She was almost sure that he practically lost her in the middle.

"Well, hello again Arashi-san," Kyoya greeted her with a small smile as though he had just watched an amusing miming show.

 _Hello,_ she signaled weakly after heaving a sigh.

"Kyoya!" a tall blonde male called as he walked towards them.

Arashi noticed that some of the girls that were surrounding Kyoya had their faces as red as strawberries at the prince-like features the blonde had and Arashi could also swear she saw Kyoya's eye twitch at the sound of the slightly high-pitched voice.

"Is this fellow schoolmate a friend of yours?" the blonde asked, sliding an arm over Kyoya's shoulder.

She tugged on his sleeve again. She did not have time for this.

 _Art room?_

"It's directly beneath us," Kyoya replied, pushing the frames up his nose bridge.

Just as she turned around, ready to leave and be scolded by her senpai. She felt arms wrap around her and twirl her around until she got dizzy and the arms had to hold her almost lifeless body.

The blonde's deep blue eyes were sparkling with a glint Arashi was sure didn't include her safety.

He hummed as he inspected her face.

"Small nose, red lips, a beautiful blue eye and the other one covered giving a mysterious air, flawless skin-"

Flawless skin her ass.

Arashi wanted to desperately claw at his arms. His touch burned and the feeling of his fingers wrapped around her arms freaked her out. Her chest rose more erratically and she was sure fear was clouding her eye. Her heart pounding in her ears made her hear everything less clearly and made it sound like absolute gibberish to her. Her vision blurred and she instantly knew she was crying. Her throat hurt with the whines that wanted release.

The grip loosened as another pair of arms wrapped themselves around her midriff, took her away and retreated.

She wiped her eye quickly and scanned the people surrounding her.

The blonde with the deep blue eyes looked concerned and curious but regret also lurked in those orbs of his. Kyoya stood there, pushing his glasses up his nose bridge as though to hide something. Another tall dark-haired boy stood near her and she instantly assumed he was the one who pulled her away.

She took a deep breath, glad to see that her little episode didn't grab much attention from the girls and the other Hosts.

Right before a short blonde that arrived at the scene spoke, Arashi bowed so low her legs and back ached before turning around and leaving the room. She wasn't even sure she wanted to go to the art room anymore.

Her hand came and covered her flushed cheek in embarrassment. How lovely, she almost had a panic attack and cried just by being held.

She needed more pills.


End file.
